UPDATE: Derailment cleared at Five Points intersection in Janesville

Workers examine a pair of rail cars that derailed from a longer train on tracks paralleling W. Centerway Avenue north of the five points intersection. For a time, traffic blocked the rail crossing on W. Court Street and other smaller streets.

JANESVILLE--Two cars of a 100-car grain train jumped their tracks in downtown Janesville, causing a derailment that closed Court Street at the Five Points intersection for about two hours Wednesday morning.

Ken Lucht, a spokesman for the Wisconsin & Southern Railroad, said the train was coming into the railroad's hub just south of the Five Points when the incident occurred at about 5:30 a.m.

"The first 35 cars went over a spring switch just fine, but cars 36 and 37 ran aground and bumped off the tracks," Lucht said, adding that extreme temperatures caused the switch to stop working properly as the train was traveling about 5 mph.

The two cars remained upright and were put back on the tracks after the intersection was cleared about 7:30, he said.

The grain cars were handed off to the Union Pacific and were on their way to their finals destinations later Wednesday morning. WSOR and UP engineers replaced the defective switch.

The train cars were carrying grain, and the derailment did not pose any health risks, Lucht said.